The heroes are facing overwhelming odds. Everything [[DarkestHour looks hopeless]] and there is [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat no possible way they can survive this]]. It almost looks like they are heading for a BolivianArmyEnding, when suddenly the enemy gets [[DeathFromAbove raked from above]]! An allied aircraft swoops overhead and loops around for another pass!

It is often set up to be a [[SurpriseVehicle complete surprise]] to the ones being rescued. That way, when the gunship lowers into place it produces squeals of joy from the audience. The real joy is [[OhCrap the look on the enemy's face]] when the gunship appears and they have to stare down the [[MoreDakka machine]] [[GatlingGood guns]], [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile pods]], [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], or whatever other kind of heavy firepower is mounted on the craft.

Often preceded by ItHasBeenAnHonor. It also invokes some resemblance to DeathFromAbove, and can often include an awesome looking visual of the rescuers doing a flyby, often putting themselves between the rescuees and the bad guys. Also likely to include the soul-shaking noise of big aircraft engines... followed a chorus of gun booms, rocket fwooshes and laser pews.

When played straight, this is a variant of BigDamnHeroes. Not classified as DeusExMachina, since most times it is set up in advance and rarely anticlimactic. And while most examples are of aircraft, specifically helicopter gunships or the [[TechnologyLevels Technology Level]] equivalent, ground vehicles and ocean vessels with a {{BFG}} mounted can sometimes be used for a Gunship Rescue.

----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* The first story arc of ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' has the Black Lagoon being chased by a Mi-24 Hind-A heavy attack helicopter. Inverted -- instead of saving the day, the Hind Gunship is destroyed spectacularly by a surprise torpedo attack of all things.* In episode 5 of ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'', the Odette II is being fired upon by the Lightning 11 using optical sights (since the crew had hacked their computer beforehand). The main character, Marika, aboard the Odette II, uses an ImprovisedWeapon in the form of aiming their solar sails to blind the Lightning 11's gunners. Shortly afterwards, the Bentenmaru and the Barbaroosa, along with several military ships show up to assist them.* In ''Manga/CatShitOne'' the Mi-24 gunship, call sign Angel One, comes in to rescue our heroes Packy and Botasky just when they thought they are completely surrounded. To quote Packy's words:-->'''Packy''': Well... that's one hell of an angel who came to help us.* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic The Second Raid'''s first episode has Sousuke being surrounded on a bridge. With nowhere to go, Al recommends self-destruct to avoid capture which Sousuke promptly rejects. The enemy commander starts counting down over loudspeaker... and just as he reaches 'one', the Arbalest launches off the bridge above the water. Cue the Tuatha de Danaan breaking through the surface and launching several cluster missiles at the enemy forces, wiping them all out in a single salvo while retrieving the Arbalest and quickly diving back underwater. Hilariously lampshaded by the shocked and singed enemy commander a while later.* ''[[Anime/GaoGaiGar The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final]]'', ep. 7. Palparepa: "Pathetic God of Destruction...what can you do alone against us?" Off-screen Taiga: "He is ''not'' alone!" Turn camera to the Division Fleet and cue Taiga's greatest speech ''ever''.** Even earlier in the series, during the final battle with the Machine Kings. Volfogg's getting trashed rather badly by Penchinon, then gets saved by the Multi-Dimensional Intelligence Submarine going on a kamikaze strike to Volfogg's 3rd theme. Topped off by Penchinon's attempt to absorb it proving to be a ''very'' bad idea as its fusion reactor explodes.** Inadvertently invoked by Soldato J and the J-Ark on their debut a few episodes later. While defeating the Primevals ''was'' intentional, saving [=GaoGaiGar=] in the process...not so much.* ''Anime/HaloLegends'':** In ''The Package'', when the Master Chief and Dr. Halsey are escaping from dozens of Seraphs, the ONI stealth ship ''PRO-49776'' comes to their rescue by blowing up all their remaining pursuers in seconds.** Brutally subverted in ''Homecoming''; the Pelican gunship coming in to rescue Daisy and company is itself destroyed.* ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTai''. ''La Verite'' episode 11. The gang is trapped in a dire situation, being chased by Konoe's AxCrazy sister, when [[spoiler: Ryuuka's murder zeppelin shows up, now sporting laser cannons, to save the day.]]* There was a ''Toad'' Rescue moment in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. During the invasion of Konoha, a giant three-headed snake was devastating a large region of Konoha, having already breached the defensive wall to allow the invasion force inside. As the Konoha ninja are fighting a losing battle against it a giant toad summon falls from the sky, wiping out the snake summon and turning the tide.* Mildly subverted in the last episode of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', where [[spoiler: a Vajra "[[OrganicTechnology gunship]]" is about to blast its WaveMotionGun point-blank into the Battle Frontier's bridge, only to have the Macross Quarter --a ship ''much'' smaller than Frontier-- skewer the Vajra with its own main cannon while coming out of Fold space]].* In the flashback of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', the armada of the three major powers in the MagicWorld arrives to stop the end-of-the-world spell, as Nagi defeated the BigBad one second too late.** In chapter 274, Paru uses her ship for this, complete with Sayo manning a {{Magitek}} [[GatlingGood minigun]]. [[spoiler:It doesn't make much difference, though, since [[ActionGirl Kaede and Setsuna]] can handle the {{Mooks}}, and Paru hadn't anticipated the enemy cruisers and [[SummonMagic summoned]] EldritchAbomination.]]** Chachamaru's [[KillSat Artifact]] was introduced this way.* The arrival of the [[spoiler:Moby Dick, Whitebeard's personal flagship]] early in the Marineford arc of ''Manga/OnePiece''. The shocker is that it came [[spoiler: from underwater taking the entire Marine force at Maineford by surprise!]]** And then one-upped 15 chapters later, [[spoiler:when a black replica of Moby Dick arrives in the same way as its predecessor, to save the Whitebeard pirates who survived Admiral Akainu's destruction of their entire fleet's vessels.]]* ''Arcus Prima'''s return to active duty in ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'' takes place just in the nick of time to save ''Messis'' from an overwhelming Argentum attack.* At the end of ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'''s first season, Saito shows up in a WWII-era fighter plane, turning the battle and [[spoiler:giving up his chance to go home.]]* In ''Anime/TransformersArmada'', the Decepticons decide to call in Tidal Wave as a backup. Tidal Wave happens to be a gunship.** In the sense that he's [[MilitaryMashupMachine a Flying Aircraft Carrier with Guns]].* ''Durandal'' gets the medal for her appearance to save ''Elsa'' from Gnosis in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}''. ''Episode 1'' goes one better with a heavily-armed mobile ''space colony'', appearing to similarly relieve the Durandal and the colony it is docked with.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Elephantmen}} Elephantmen: War Toys Volume 1]]'', French freedom fighter Yvette is cornered on the roof of a cathedral by several Elephantmen. Then three or four Red Chinese gunships appear and open up on the Elephantmen with MoreDakka. Subverted, because [[spoiler: the gunships are shot down by the Elephantmen, crash into the cathedral roof, and kill everyone except Yvette who miraculously survives.]]* During ComicBook/TheSurturSaga in ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', Sif stays behind to defend a convoy of alien transport ships from horde of demons. When her strength starts failing, she prepares herself to take as many demons as possible with her. Then all the sudden the demons are blasted away and she is greeted by Skuttlebut, an intelligent spaceship who was also sent to protect the convoy.** Skuttlebutt did it again, during the Godhunter Saga. When Beta Ray Bill was on the receiving end of a curbstomp battle from the Silver Surfer, Skuttlebutt flew in and proceeded to blast Surfer unconscious. You gotta love that ship.* In [[{{Tintin}} Red Sea Sharks]], Tintin's ship is under attack by a submarine. They manage to reach an Amrican warship, but are afraid they'll be sunk by the time it gets there. As they try to avoid the torpedoes, the captain suddenly hears a boom and thinks they've been hit- only to discover it's the cruiser's seaplanes depth-charging the sub.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* In ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, Aria T'Loak's forces attempting to retake Omega (which has by then crashed into the Citadel) are rescued in this fashion by geth. Said geth had been waging a guerrilla war against the invaders, and having noticed that potential allies were in trouble, swooped in with what forces they had. It even leads to an airdropped geth colossus serving as a mount for the remaining organic forces. Arguably, Trans-Galactic Republic forces in the [[FanFic/{{Fractured}} previous work]] count as well when they smash Reapers.* In ''Fanfic/TheMysteriousCaseOfNeelixsLungs'', Tuvok uses ''Voyager'''s Aeroshuttle to pull out a fireteam led by Ayala when they come under attack by the Kazon-Nistrim, [[DeathFromAbove torpedoing a Kazon ground position]] and dogfighting with Kazon fighters on the way back out.* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' has one of these in the Shining Armor Arc, during Shining's first battle with [[BigBad Makarov's]] forces. Just when it looks like Shining and the Griffon special forces unit he's working with are going to be wiped out, [[TheCavalry in comes the rest of the Royal Guard]], complete with armed airships.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' has this for the climatic scene where Stoik and his forces are fighting a hopeless battle against [[spoiler:the Red Death Dragon]], and suddenly Hiccup and swoop in and give the Vikings one thing they never had before in battle, ''air support''.* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndMisterFreezeSubZero'': Batman and Robin do this with Batwing to save Barbara Gordon.* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'':Towards the end of the movie, Gru and two minions are rescued from a bunch of evil minions from a rooftop by a VTOL plane. Visually the scene is held close to the well known examples of this trope, but instead of lasers or machine guns the plane uses jelly-miniguns to distribute a cure.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* ''Film/ActOfValor'' has the [=SEAL=] team heavily outnumbered and outgunned, hotly pursued by militia forces, and then just as the militia catches up to them, a pair of [=SWCC=] boats show up and deliver a literal ''wall'' of fire, doing their best to achieve enough dakka in almost two minutes of near-sustained fire.* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has one near the climax when [[spoiler: Nick Fury]] shows up with [[spoiler: Helicarrier 64 from the first Avengers movie, in order to help evacuate the city that Ultron had just ripped out of the ground]]. Played with, as the Avengers, or at least [[spoiler: Iron Man and War Machine]] end up [[spoiler: defending it by shooting down Ultron's drones as they attempt to attack the Helicarrier and its rescue ships]]. * ''Franchise/StarWars'' Series** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' featured a gunship rescue moment from Yoda and the clone troopers, and a BigDamnHeroes moment from Yoda confronting Count Dooku. The event is even ''called'' "Gunship Rescue" on the DVD.** ''Film/ANewHope'':-->'''Han Solo:''' "You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!"** DoubleSubverted in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' when Han and Leia manage to take care of a couple of storm troopers giving them trouble, only for a AT-ST Scout Walker to approach them. They give the OhCrap look, only to find out it was the one Chewbacca and the Ewoks hijacked earlier. And in the end they used the communications link in the walker to draw the base guards out rather than just blast open the doors.*** This is not the only time this particular Scout Walker was used this way. Just after hijacking it, Chewie started blowing away other Scout Walkers that had been chewing up the Ewoks pretty badly.** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' has [[spoiler:Poe Dameron's]] X-Wing squadron tearing through First Order forces like ''paper'' during the battle over Maz Kanata's base. They don't save [[spoiler:Rey]] from being captured, but they do manage to extract the rest of the focal characters.* ''Film/TheMatrix'' had Neo and Trinity in a helicopter armed with a mini-gun that even the near unstoppable Agents can't dodge.* In ''Film/{{Transformers}}'', the Decepticon Scorponok had several soldiers pinned down and facing imminent death, when they call in two [[CoolPlane A-10 Warthogs and an AC-130 Spectre]]. Later in the movie, [[spoiler: Megatron is beating the crap out of Optimus, when a bunch of F-22 Raptors [[MacrossMissileMassacre swoop in and shoot]] Megs and Blackout.]]** ''Revenge of the Fallen'' features an air strike to help the ground troops trying to hold their position that was represented on-screen with a Guinness Record for the largest explosion Hollywood has ever done. Say what you will about Creator/MichaelBay as a director, he knows how to blow shit up.** ''Dark of the Moon'' has a subversion, they already knew that none of their aircraft could match the Cybertronian aerial fighters (a F-22 Raptor was shot down with little trouble) and thus they staged a wingsuit entry into the city, in this case the "air" support was actual people. But it was played straight somewhat during the climax, not from physical aircraft but from a series of Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a nearby base thinning out the Decepticon ranks.* The ending of ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' features the US Army Air Forces saving the day, specifically the [[CoolPlane P-51 Mustang]] "Tank Busters."* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', after [[spoiler: Will Turner stabs Davy Jones' heart and the ''Dutchman'' sinks, the EITC armada is about to wipe out the pirate armada... and then the ''Dutchman'' explodes from the water, with Will at the helm]].* ''Film/HarleyDavidsonAndTheMarlboroMan''. And even firing at the building.* An entire fleet of Royal Navy {{Airborne Aircraft Carrier}}s turns up to rescue the protagonists at the end of ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' (2004), though they really don't need saving by that stage.* ''Franchise/StarTrek''** ''Film/StarTrek'': [[spoiler:Alternate Spock is headed into a massive missile barrage in Spock Prime's little ship, with the computer warning him that the black-hole-creating-stuff in the back will ignite if they're hit. Cue the "Jump-out-of-warp" noise, and the ''Enterprise'' blasts into the scene with all guns blazing furiously, picking off every missile. Oh, and they beam Spock out of the little ship and Kirk and Pike off of the bigger one about to be rammed.]] BigDamnHeroes ''and'' Gunship Rescue moment for the ''Enterprise'' and her crew, set to an epic, ''epic'' soundtrack.** ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'': When Kirk is about to be sucked into space [[spoiler: after ejecting Krall and the weapon from Yorktown, Bones arrives in a stolen swarm ship and Spock comes out and saves Kirk.]]--> '''Kirk''': What would I do without you, Spock?** In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' Captain Sulu and the ''Excelsior'' show up to help the ''Enterprise'' fight a cloaked Bird-of-Prey. In this case it wasn't necessarily for the firepower but in Sulu's own words "Give them something else to shoot at" while the technicians figured a way around the cloak.-->'''Sulu''': Target that explosion and fire!** The climax to ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' played with this, partly for comedy: A whaling vessel is chasing the two humpback whales Kirk and crew need to bring back to the 23rd century to [[SpaceWhaleAesop save Earth from a destructive probe]]. The vessel sights the whales, fires a harpoon - which suddenly bounces off ''nothing'' with a metallic clang. Cue the heroes' stolen Bird of Prey decloaking above the water... and the whaling ship urgently attempting to turn around and run away.** ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' had Spock as gunner on a Klingon Bird-Of-Prey blowing up a wanna-be ''God'' with a timely arrival.** ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'': "Sir, there's another ship coming in. ''...It's the Enterprise!''" Cue the shiny new ''Enterprise''-E swooping in like an avenging angel to save the mangled ''Defiant'' (commanded by [[TheWorfEffect Worf at the time]]) from the Borg cube.** Two Romulan Warbirds under Commander Donatra tried to do this for ''Enterprise'' in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', but were quickly disabled.* In ''Film/BehindEnemyLines'', Burnett is cornered by pretty much the entire Serbian Army, but is rescued when a fleet of American helicopters loaded with weapons and angry Marines arrive and completely wreck the Serbians.* In ''Film/BlueThunder'', the titular BlackHelicopter pulls one of these off when hero Frank Murphy's girlfriend is about to be arrested by the police after being pulled over on a bridge while carrying the PlotCoupon. Cue dramatic engine roar and the sight of ''Blue Thunder'' rising up from beneath the bridge, {{BFG}} aimed right at the cops. A hilarious DoubleSubversion follows, as while the OhCrap moment gives Murphy's girlfriend a chance to drive off, the cops recover in time to pursue her... until Murphy blows their car in half.* In a marvelous example of overkill, ''Film/TrueLies'' has Arnold approaching the terrorists holding out in an office building and proceeds to rip apart the entire floor with an anti-tank weapon on the Harrier-II he was flying.* In ''Off Limits'' two American military policemen are surrounded by corrupt South Vietnamese police. The chief policeman tells the Americans, "I am afraid you are outgunned today." As a helicopter BDG appears from behind the buildings, the lead MP replies, "You still don't get it, do you? We [Americans] are ''never'' outgunned!* At the end of Afghan-Russian War movie ''Film/NinthCompany''. Seven surviving Russian paratroopers (down to half a magazine each) surrounded by at least 50 mujahideen fighters. Cue the arrival of two Mi-24 Hinds.* In the beginning of ''Film/RedDawn1984'', the heroes realize that their escape to the mountains is about to be prematurely cut off by a Soviet roadblock. Just then an Army [[EveryHelicopterIsAHuey Huey]] helicopter turns up and blows the roadblock to pieces, clearing the way for them. (Another chopper, or possibly the same one, shows up later on harassing the Soviets as they secure the town)** Inverted towards the end, when the DirtyCommies finally catch LaResistance out in the open, and the Wolverines find out that Mi-24 Hinds are out of their league.* ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'':** In the final battle scene of the movie as the U.S. soldiers crest the hill they are staring down the barrels of the enemy weapons who are about to shoot them. Just as it looks like they are about to get shot to pieces, you see the enemy getting splattered by rockets and minigun fire from Huey Gunships allowing the Americans to finish storming the enemy positions.** Earlier in the film, the Americans are on the verge of being overrun by the NVA. In a desperation move, they call in a "Broken Arrow", which calls in ''all'' available air assets to assist. The NVA get [[CurbStompBattle curbstomped]], at least for the moment.* ''Film/BlackHawkDown'' is a bit of a {{subversion}} of the trope: the eponymous Black Hawks ''were'' good for gunship purposes due to their miniguns, but proved too vulnerable to RPG fire. On the other hand, the much smaller [[LightningBruiser Little Birds]] fulfilled this purpose admirably--they packed more firepower in their rockets and were much more difficult to hit.* ''Film/TearsOfTheSun'' ends when BruceWillis' team of Navy SEAL badasses, having just barely survived a battle with a pursuing enemy army, end up chased into a grassy field. Just when all hope seems lost for them and the refugees they have been escorting, a flight of F/A-18 Hornets comes screaming in and [[KillItWithFire liberally applies napalm]] amongst the enemy ranks.* The Bat serves this purpose in the climax of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.* ''Film/ManOfSteel'': Surprisingly, this is achieved more often by the villains than the heroes, as a couple of Kryptonian fighters are part of their limited arsenal and it outclasses anything humans have. The military does help a little with their A-10 Warthogs being able to at least distract and/or disorient their targets, but can't deal any real damage. In addition, earlier in the movie, one of Zod's gunships is about to blast Kal-El's capsule out of the sky when it is blown to smithereens by a [[MoreDakka council gunship]]. Cue many more gunships surrounding Zod's position and forcing him to surrender.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series:** Subverted. The Argo II doesn’t get to Camp Jupiter until the day after the invasion.** It does, however, pull off a lot of rescues in ''Mark of Athena''.* ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr''. After losing his surrogate children the protagonist decides to drive into an alien-infested zone until something eats him, only to have his ColonelBadass girlfriend turn up in a massively-armed jetcopter gunship and blow up the road in front of his vehicle.* In ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'', during the battle at Hit between the U.S. Army and the invading demon army, the infantry are heavily pressed by the baldricks because their rifles don't do enough damage to drop the invaders, and they have no air support because of the harpy presence....until the harpies have been culled from the skies by massed anti-air fire. Cue the Apaches.* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/SmallFavor'' Harry Dresden is saved by Badass mercenary Ms. Gard, who proceeds to gun down demons using a minigun on an illegal Huey. While playing "Ride of the Valkyries" [[Film/ApocalypseNow on speakers mounted on the chopper.]] Even Marcone was very impressed. The best part? It is piloted by an ''actual Valkyrie.''* In ''Literature/{{Orphanage}}'' by Robert Buettner, Metzeger combines this with a heroic sacrifice, crashing a gunship into the alien hive to save his friend and his pregnant wife from being killed in a hopeless siege.* In ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1634: The Baltic War]]'', one of the USE's "timberclad" warships steams to the rescue of the folks escaping from imprisonment in the Tower of London.* Subverted in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' prequel novel. A gunship arrives with lasers blazing to save the outnumbered-and-pinned-down soldiers from mercenaries, only to be shot down by the TheDragon bounty-hunter who not only predicted the gunship, but prepped massive anti-aircraft weaponry beforehand.* ''Literature/{{Eisenhorn}}'' has a guncutter that turns up at least once per novel. In ''Xenos'' [[spoiler: when the titular inquisitor is cornered by Glaw, Midas Betancore brings the cutter down and helps Eisenhorn escape with an artefact]]. In ''Malleus'' [[spoiler: his daughter Medea saves Eisenhorn from witch-finder Tantalid -- "Never argue with a guncutter, asshole"]]. Subverted in ''Hereticus'' where [[spoiler: Medea flies in to try and save Eisenhorn and company from a Chaos titan, despite Eisenhorn's orders to stay put, and gets shot out of the sky]].* In a two-for-one hybrid of Gunship Rescue with the Biggest Damn Hero ''ever'', Angel City is saved by the timely appearance of the Garuda bird in ''Literature/TheCaseOfTheToxicSpellDump''. It qualifies as a ship as well as a hero, because in this {{Magitek}} setting, the mighty Garuda is being ''outfitted for space travel'' by the setting's analog of N.A.S.A.* ''The Alchemist'' by Ken Goddard. When the undercover narcs are pulling the drug deal at the end of the novel, an attempted rip-off is stymied by their pilot turning up in an AH-64 Apache he borrowed from a nearby military base.* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':** ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' played with this trope intensely. Throughout the novel, gunships both repeatedly assault the main characters at the worst possible moments, and [[spoiler: rescue a whole bunch of civilians in the nick of time.]] The climactic sequence involves [[spoiler: the rescue cruiser being ambushed, the crippled gunships being saved by Mace Windu commandeering ENEMY gunships, using these in a [[FalseFlagOperation Trojan horse assault]], being Gunship Rescued right back by the enemy air fleet, using one of the gunships stolen earlier as a tank to try to pull off the daring assault, having it destroyed, and having a different set of enemies use another set of aircraft to lure the first enemies into a brutal massacre of civilians]]. Peace only reigns when everyone [[spoiler: sends the damn things home.]]** Another particularly noticeable example in ''Legends'' comes at the end of ''Literature/ChoicesOfOne''. The local Imperial Fleet (including Pellaeon and Thrawn), which Han, Wedge and Leia [[spoiler:[[EnemyMine have been covertly helping]]]] are surrounded and badly outgunned by the true BigBad of this novel. Cue [[spoiler: Lord Darth Vader's personal squadron.]]. You know, the one from ''Empire Strikes Back''. * ''Literature/RedStormRising'': Edwards and his men have been discovered, are pinned down and getting torn apart by a Russian squad. Friendly A-7s manage to kill the Russian mortar teams, but are unable to safely hit the assault troops [[TrialByFriendlyFire because of their proximity to the Americans]]. Then Edwards is hit, hears rotor blades and figures it's the Russian Hind from Keflavik... [[spoiler:[[TheCavalry it's not.]]]]* Another Creator/TomClancy one in ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger,'' this time from the perspective of the gunship. A twenty-one-ton Pave Low might make for awesome firepower, but it's not a dedicated gunship, as the crew are keenly aware.--> '''[[AcePilot PJ]]:''' What's the opposition like?\\'''[[OldSoldier Clark]]:''' Lots of people with [=AKs=]. [[UsefulNotes/VietnamWar Ought to sound familiar.]]\\'''PJ''': It does. I got three [[GatlingGood minis]]. Without any air support...\\'''Clark''': You guessed right. You are the air support. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck I'd hold on to the miniguns.]]* Ralph Peters's ''Literature/RedArmy''. Soviet close air support with ''fuel-air bombs'' destroy the remaining Dutch tanks about to overrun Kryshinin’s forward security element.* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheVorGame'', the heroes are hopelessly outnumbered when the commander says, "Whatinhell's that? It's too big to be that fast. It's too fast to be that big." It's the gunship rescue, is what it is.* In Creator/HarryHarrison's alternate history novel ''Stars and Stripes Forever'', Washington D.C. is being invaded until the ironclad Avenger arrives to save the day.* In the Literature/NUMASeries book ''Atlantis Found'', Dirk Pitt and the unarmed icebreaker he came in on are getting pummeled by a U-boat's machine guns and deck gun in Antarctica. They look well and truly screwed until his boss Sandecker pulls some strings and gets the U.S Navy to send the U-boat to the bottom with a destroyer-launched Tomahawk cruise missile.* John Ringo's ''Literature/PaladinOfShadows'' series features in its later volumes two gorgeous helicopter pilots call-signs "Valkyrie" and "Dragon." Dragon flies a Czech version of a Hind attack helicopter with so much weaponry on it that when she unloads on the bad guys it looks like the helicopter has blown up.* Also by John Ringo, in ''Hell's Faire'', the fourth and final book of the Posleen War series, just as all hope looks lost for the [[PowerArmor ACS]] [[spoiler: the entire [[StandardSciFiFleet Space Navy shows up in orbit (against orders) and begins OrbitalBombardment of the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Posleen]] positions.]]* Creator/DavidWeber is extremely fond of this trope.** It happens several times in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', which both played this straight and subverted it, depending on the book in question.** Also is used to good effect in the ''Mutineer's Moon'' and ''Excalibur Alternative'' universes. "Break off ''and leave them to us!''"* Despite being clawed and feathery rather than armed with superior firepower, this is the narrative role of the Eagles in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Literature/TheHobbit'', and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. Almost every time they show up it's to bail out the heroes from a hopeless battle, rescue anyone who needs rescuing, and turn the tide.* Happens a few times in ''{{Literature/Parellity}}'', once by Mobius, and once by [[spoiler:the CORE]].* In the Clive Cussler novel ''The Mayan Secrets'', at the very end, the townsfolk are ready to be on the receiving end of a major curb-stomp when two attack helicopters arrive, seemingly out of nowhere. Apparently Sam Fargo, one of the main characters, has some secrets in his background.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]* ''Franchise/StarTrek''** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s GrandFinale had Riker flying in the new-and-improved ''Enterprise''-D which is capable of ignoring the Klingon shields and blasting several holes in their ships with the huge super-phaser.** Shran's ship performs this role in the Season Three finale of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.** The ''Defiant'' does this twice in the Mirror Universe two-parter in ''Enterprise'''s fourth season.** An entire fleet of Klingon ships did this at the episode "Sacrifice of Angels".** To quote [[FourStarBadass General Martok]] in ''Call to Arms'', "Continue your work, Commander, ''I'' will handle the Jem'Hadar."*** Who says there's never a Klingon around when you need one?** The Klingons get to do it again in the TNG episode ''The Defector''. The ''Enterprise,'' alone in the Romulan Neutral Zone, is surrounded by two huge Romulan warbirds (each of which alone would have fire superiority over the ''Enterprise''). Picard gives a RousingSpeech and ''three'' Klingon Birds-of-Prey decloak to reveal that it was actually the Romulans who are surrounded and outgunned.--->'''Commander Tomalak''': You will still not survive our assault.\\'''Picard''': And you will not survive ours. Shall we die together?* ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'' used this ''all'' the time, being that the title craft was a gunship.* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' subverts this trope repeatedly. ** Set up and inverted in the original pilot, when DuringTheWar, Mal's little group of Independents hang on against impossible odds. You get your moment of Gunship Rescue as the roar of an arriving fleet of aircraft sounds... [[spoiler: only to find out that the gunships belong to the other side and they're about to be on the receiving end of all that firepower]]. Cue the [[HeroicBSOD look on Mal's face]]. ** There's a bluffed GR in the episode "The Train Job", when Wash shows up in ''Serenity'' to save the crew from a fight, threatening to "blow another crater in this little moon". ''Serenity'''s sudden appearance is apparently so intimidating that the locals back off without stopping to think that, as a transport ship, she doesn't actually have any guns. Jayne laughs at the locals for falling for it.** Played straight in "Safe", before River can be burnt at the stake. ''Serenity'' may not be armed, but ''Jayne is''. [[{{BFG}} Heavily.]]---> '''Preacher:''' This is a holy cleansing. You cannot think to thwart God's will.---> '''Mal''': Y'all see the man hanging out of the spaceship with the really big gun? I'm not saying you weren't easy to find... but it was kinda out of our way, and he didn't want to come in the first place. Man's lookin' to kill some folk. So really it's HIS will y'all should worry about thwarting!** Subverted yet again in "Heart of Gold" when Mal's plan for ''Serenity'' to provide support in a firefight [[spoiler:is screwed up by the bad guys ambushing Wash and Kaylee in the cargo bay]].* ''Series/DoctorWho'' had an Airship Rescue moment in "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" two-parter, with the ''Valiant''. Although it isn't the guns that save the day, but the jetwash from its rotors that blow away the poison in the immediate area's atmosphere.** Danny Boy and his space Spitfires, first in "Victory of the Daleks" and then in "A Good Man Goes to War".* ''Series/StargateSG1'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. In fact, the ''Daedalus''-class' service record is about 50% Gunship Rescue moments.** Hell, [[spoiler:Atlantis itself]] has a moment of this during the series finale.** Also happens with the ''Beliskner'' in the episode "Thor's Chariot", where Thor's flagship comes down from the clouds and beams away all enemy Jaffa and destroys every Ha'tak piece-by-piece.** "Into the Fire" has the survivors of SG-1, -3, -5, -6, and -11 held prisoner by Jaffa. [[spoiler:Then the gate opens and Teal'c and General Hammond fly through in a modified death glider that blasts apart the turrets guarding them while a squad of rebel Jaffa led by Bra'tac comes through the gate.]]** Another episode involves the heroes trying to get the Asgard of a parallel reality to pull a Gunship Rescue to save that reality's Earth. Viewers are treated to same shot as in "Thor's Chariot", except that ''Beliskner'' is hovering over the SGC.** In "Avenger 2.0" Jack and Teal'c get tired of waiting for the gate network to be fixed and hijack an Al'kesh just in time to save Carter and Dr. Felger from an army of Jaffa.** ''Lost City, Part 2'', the Season 7 finale has SG-1 in a small, unprotected Tel'tak using a modified ring transporter to drill through a mile of ice in Antarctica and Anubis's fleet rapidly approaching their position. The ''Prometheus'', with General Hammond as commander, and a squadron of F-302's show up and the ''Prometheus'' ''parks'' above the Tel'tak to defend their position.*** The ''Prometheus'' herself gets rescued by a Big Damn Gunstation once O'Neill launches a giant swarm of glowing squid missiles that completely destroy the attacking Goa'uld fleet, including Anubis's giant ship.** Defied in [[spoiler: "Camelot." The Ori motherships have come through the Supergate and are [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] the combined forces of several Ha'tak vessels, Asgard ships, and Earth ships. Teal'c comes in raining fire on the Ori with three ships of his own… which proceed to get curb stomped just as easily.]]** At the end of the first ''Atlantis'' episode with the Genii they attempt to double-cross the Atlantis team and steal their Puddle-Jumper, which Major Sheppard had earlier told them was the only one the Expedition had...--> Sheppard: "Puddle-Jumpers 2 and 3, de-cloak."** Averted and then played straight in an early episode of ''Atlantis'': When Sheppard engages in a 12 hour game of cat and mouse with a particularly powerful Wraith, and it's not going at all well, he's relieved to hear Lt. Ford call him on the radio to say that Ford's coming with reinforcements and heavier weapons, and Sheppard compliments Ford on the "nice timing" of the rescue. Ford radios back that he and the reinforcements are still twenty minutes away, to which Sheppard replies "In that case, your timing stinks Lieutenant. Get here when you can." [[spoiler:But the big guns still turn the tide in killing off the Wraith.]]* Parodied in the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Scratch 'n Sniff" when [[DamselinDistress damsel-in-distress]] Raxil discovers our heroes preparing to assault the BigBad's fortress with a couple of pulse pistols.-->"Two guns? I mean, I thought you were the great Crichton and D'Argo! I mean, you blew up a Shadow Depository. I mean, I thought you'd bring pelshfer charges...and a plasma bomb...and a really big gunship...but no! You bring nothing! You bring two little weapons that wouldn't kill a negnik!"** Talyn often played this role in other episodes, such as "Thanks for Sharing" and the "Liars, Guns and Money" Trilogy.* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' has just such a moment in the evacuation of New Caprica. The ''Galactica'' is going down, it's being pummeled by basestars, it's lost maneuvering thrusters and FTL. Adama has told his crew ItHasBeenAnHonor. Cut back...[[spoiler: the {{Battlestar}} ''Pegasus'' swoops in and destroys one basestar in the first few seconds of firing. The Pegasus then has to take the brunt of the battle and is itself heavily damaged, leading to Lee to conclude RammingAlwaysWorks. It does, killing TWO other basestars.]]** In the same episode, when the Resistance forces were pinned down by Cylon fire, ''Galactica'' comes to the rescue by jumping ''into the planet's atmosphere'', launching its Viper wing, and jumping out again in time to avoid going splat[[note]]The ''Galactica'' has the aerodynamics of a brick and was ''not'' designed for atmospheric operations. This maneuver is rather like a battleship ramming the coast to get a better shot.[[/note]].-->'''Hotdog:''' Well, this oughta be different.** Lee did it first when he [[spoiler: rescued Tyrol, Cally, and Baltar from Centurions on Kobol in the season 2.]]* ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'': Gem and Gemma's or ([[Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger Hiroto and Miu]]) debut as involves two gunships that look like a giant chicken and a tiger.** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'': Done with the Samurai Battlewing in the episode "The Rescue."* A rather archaic appearance of the trope happens in the short ''{{Hornblower}}'' TV series episode 'The Frogs And The Lobsters' when the main characters and a platoon of marines are trapped on a beach and about to be killed by the French, at least, until the HMS Indefatigable opens up.* Plenty of cases in ''Series/BabylonFive''. A memorable example in "Walkabout", where [[TheCaptain Sheridan]] takes the ''[[CoolShip White Star]]'' to face off several [[AbusivePrecursors Shadow]] vessels. He wants to use Lyta Alexander's PsychicPowers to immobilize the Shadows in order to destroy them. Lyta manages to hold one Shadow ship, while three telepaths on the accompanying Minbari cruiser restrain all but one. Just as it seems the remaining Shadow vessel will blast both the ''White Star'' and the Minbari cruiser, a jump point opens, and the Narn cruiser ''G'Tok'' appears, blasting its FrickinLaserBeams at the unsuspecting enemy. This outmatches the Shadows to the point of forcing them into retreat, for the first time since the Shadow War opened. ''Then'' G'Kar orders the ''other'' ships he brought with him into action...** During the battle for Babylon 5's independence, Babylon 5 and two cruisers manage to hold back an [=EarthForce=] fleet loyal to the {{President|Evil}} (losing one of their cruisers in the process). Cue jumpgate opening and a large [=EarthForce=] fleet arriving, larger than the one they just barely repelled. Then cue ''more'' jumpgates, with three Minbari ''Sharlin''-class warcruisers, a ''White Star'', and a ''very'' unhappy Delenn.--->'''Delenn:''' "Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed."--->'''Capt. Drake:''' "Negative, we have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship."--->'''Delenn:''' "Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. ''He'' is behind me. ''You'' are in front of me. If you value your lives, ''be somewhere else''."--->(''The fleet proceeds to turn tail and get the hell out of there.'')** During the battle for Earth at the end of season 4, [[spoiler:the deranged President Clark turns the Earth Defence Grid against the planet itself]]. The ''Agamemnon'', captained by Sheridan, is [[spoiler:out of ammo]] and the only ship close enough to destroy the last remaining weapons system. Sheridan orders ramming speed - [[spoiler:at which point the ''Apollo'', in a magnificent HeelFaceTurn, comes blazing out of a jump point with all guns firing, saving the hides of both the ''Agamemnon'' and Earth itself]]. Let's not forget that the ''Apollo'' had put a cap on this battle, which began with the cinematic ''beauty'' in the combined fighting might of Minbari, alien and Earthforce ships and fighters [[SealedBadassInACan working in destroying the defense grid with astounding might and power in a way never seen before.]]* ''Series/{{JAG}}'':** At the final climax in the 1st season episode “Scimitar”, Harm and Meg while driving a limousine are chased by Iraqis in a Soviet made Hind. But at the Kuwait border a U.S. Army Apache saves the day.** Also in the 5th season episode “The Bridge at Kang So Ri”, two U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles out powers two North Korean Migs.* An episode of ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' has Kensi and Deeks pinned down by mercenaries near the Mexican border with a pair of kidnapped Marines. [[spoiler:Cue Sam and Callen coming over the horizon in a helicopter with Sam sitting in the open door with his M4.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]* At the ending of "Cows With Guns", the eponymous cows are rescued from "ten thousand coppers" by "chickens in choppers".[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has several. [[ExpandedUniverse In the fiction]], during the siege of Terra, primarch Rogal Dorn seemingly deserted his post, only to return in the nick of time aboard a city-sized floating superweapon.** Apocalypse games using flyers can throw this out a lot, especially now that it is (slightly) more affordable to have an entire Elysian army mounted in Valkyries. One can imagine the variety of scenarios that could be put together; a small Imperial Guard garrison set to hold a fortress against an overwhelming tide of Tyranids until [[ItsRainingMen a Space Marine company with a Thunderhawk swoops in to the rescue]]...Or a band of Eldar Guardians holding the line until half a dozen Aspect Warrior-laden Vampires drop out of the sky and start opening Webway portals all over the battlefield...* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' during the Trail of the Scorpion, the heroes can be rescued from a hostile Martian city-state by a mixed force of British, US and Europan space ships.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* In ''Apache:AirAssault'', you ARE the Gunship Rescue most of the time.* In the arcade game ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsShadowOverMystara,'' the heroes defeat the final boss, only for it to start getting back up for a final attack. But, before it can, an entire fleet of Elvish airships shows up and bombs it into the ground for good.* A common sight in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series: ** Near the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', Shepard can order the Fifth Fleet to rescue the Council aboard the ''Destiny Ascension''.** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': *** [[ColdSniper Archangel's]] recruitment mission has this, too, on the bad guys' side. Depending on the choices you made earlier, it may or may not be completely repaired. Samara's recruitment mission and Kasumi's loyalty mission have the same thing for the bad guys.*** During the ending cutscene, [[spoiler:after killing the Human-Reaper, Shepard and his/her squad are on the run from the overwhelming horde of Collectors. Just as you reach a dead-end leading into space, the ''Normandy'' swoops in from above and you make an epic low-gravity leap to safety ([[TakeMyHand or not]]).]] Not an entirely classic example, since ''Normandy'' actually doesn't have any weapons she can safely deploy at that moment, but unless you fared ''really'' badly up to that point, she is still carrying the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits ten toughest badasses]] in the galaxy ready [[IGotYouCovered to cover you]]. ** And in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':*** The ''Normandy'' pulls this off again during the ActionPrologue, where they obliterate the Cannibals about to over-run Shepard and Anderson's position.*** Shepard flies in on a shuttle and uses a mounted gun to save [[spoiler:Admiral Koris]].*** A villainous example is found with Kai Leng, who during your first boss battle with him will [[DirtyCoward call up a gunship to provide cover fire while he recharges his shields]].*** At the end of the game, the entire allied fleet arriving to retake Earth, consisting of every single faction Shepard has gathered in the game. It's even better if the ''Destiny Ascension'' arrives to return the favor for saving her in part one: while she is not shown doing anything awesome, she nonetheless makes up for it by being an awe-inspiring sight completely dwarfing every other vessel of the fleet.* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft's'' Halls Of Reflection instance ends with one. After fleeing from the Lich King, the players and Jaina Proudmoore (Sylvanas for Horde) find themselves at a dead end. Just as he prepares to kill you and your leader, your faction's gunship shows up and buries him in a pile of rubble.* ''[[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Ninja Gaiden II]]'' had this occur in an arena battle almost exactly like ''Franchise/StarWars''.* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' had a Pelican come in to take out Covenant ships that are giving you trouble. Subverted later; when thousands of Sentinel drones are rising in the air and Sergeant Johnson is preparing to engage them with the turret on the Pelican, Guilty Spark alerts the good guys that the Sentinels are on their side, and are ready to help them against Covenant forces.*** A [[TheCavalry cavalry]] version happens earlier when the ''Shadow of Intent'' arrives and Elites start dropping into to help you against the Flood, showing that they have switched sides.*** And who could forget [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5y8pJLYl44 this]] scene? Admittedly, it's more {{Subverted}} than not, but hey, music.** A variant of it happens in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''. The Master Chief [[RidingTheBomb rides a bomb]] into a Covenant Assault Carrier, destroying it. Unfortunately, he is now plummeting to Earth. Fortunately, Miranda Keyes maneuvers her frigate to "catch" him.-->'''Johnson:''' For a brick, he flew pretty good. ** In the ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'' beta, Captain Cutter could call in a squadron of 4 Pelican gunships that circle an area, [[StuffBlowingUp obliterating all enemies with]] [[MacrossMissileMassacre volley after volley of guided missiles]], paired with [[GatlingGood withering rakes of fire from]] [[MoreDakka 8 gatling guns]].* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' had a gunship come and help the player deal with a lot of zombie/soldier things. Which is then promptly subverted [[spoiler:when it gets hit by a well-aimed [=RPG=] and is destroyed.]]** Happens again in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', only this time with [[spoiler:flying Plagas instead of a missile.]]** Inverted in the opening of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' where Leon and Helena are fired upon by a helicopter right after they barely survived an explosion. Played straight when [[spoiler:later it is revealed said helicopter was actually piloted by Ada and was helping them by shooting at the zombies around them.]]* There is a battle in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 1}}'' (a.k.a. ''Earthbound Zero'') where your party is saved by the giant tank that rolls up and kills the enemy.* This happens all the time in ''VideoGame/{{Planetside}}'' - often, as one faction is about to lose a base, a [[TheCavalry large tank column or group of Liberators and Galaxies will reinforce the base,]] saving it from being captured. * Some ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games (e.g. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI 3/6]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII 7]]) give the airship owner a special attack in the form of a bombing run by the party's airship.** Also is in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' The main character's airship is facing down a large flight of silver dragons when Lindblum's Aerial Fleet Arrives and takes them on to open the way for the heroes.** Another example, from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': right before Yuna is about to be forced to marry Seymour, her guardians arrive, at high speed, in the ridiculously [[CoolShip cool airship]], and then slide down the airship's grappling lines to the rescue, under heavy fire.* ''VideoGame/StarCraft''** Subverted in the opening cinematic to ''[[{{Starcraft}} Starcraft: Brood War]]'', wherein the Gunship Rescue is seen hovering overhead... and then ''leaves'' without firing a shot, [[KickTheDog abandoning the marines below to the fury of the Zerg Swarm]].** In ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'', the ''Hyperion's'' first appearance takes the Brood War example and does it right. By the time it arrives your base is being completely overrun by Zerg, with Creep Tumors falling from the sky and Nydus Worms erupting right inside your base... Then the ''Hyperion'' drops in like a meteor and rains ''hell'' down on them. They do it again in a cinematic near the end of the campaign, although in this case it's a squadron of Banshee gunships instead of a capital ship.* ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Call of Duty 4]]'' featured at least three Gunship Rescue scenes: one is in the USMC mission "The Bog", featuring two Super Cobras coming to TheSquad's rescue when it's overwhelmed by enemies; the second features a ''Lockheed AC-130'' gunship appearing just before the team faces a enemy armored platoon (it then also covers their subsequent escape); and the third one is in the very end, when a Havoc arrives to rescue Soap in the last damn moment. There's also a mission where you can call in a Mi-28 at will, so whether it invokes a BigDamnHeroes moment depends entirely on you.** A very similar scene to the ending of [=COD4=] appears in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', when [[PlayerCharacter Roach]] and [[TheLancer Ghost]] escape from Markarov's [[BigFancyHouse Dacha]], chased by dozens of Russian {{Mooks}}. 30 meters from the extraction point, you get knocked out by a grenade right next to you, only to awaken while being dragged away by the collar by Ghost. As you try to take some more enemies down through your blurry gaze, the ringing in the ears turns into the unmistakeably sound of miniguns warming up and a chopper flies over your head, completely shredding the pursuing soldiers to pieces. [[spoiler:But once you're up on your feet and handed the retrieved data to General Shepherd, [[CavalryBetrayal he shoots Roach and Ghost]] [[TearJerker and burns their bodies in a ditch]].]]** In ''[=MW3=]'' The Lockheed AC-130 from the first game returns, in which you have to blast free a path out of Paris for the soldiers who captured Volk. Earlier in the level you can throw purple smoke grenades to call an airstrike, so again whether it invokes a BigDamnHeroes moment depends entirely on you. At the end of the level, the Delta Force soldiers are making a stand on the Pont d'Iéna against vastly superior Russian forces with heavy tank backup. Just as you start to run out of ammo and the tanks close in, American bombers come in and obliterate the Russian forces. [[spoiler:Unfortunately this causes the Eiffel Tower to collapse.]] In Sierra Leone you can take remote control of the gun on Nikolais gunship, and in Berlin you are given a target designator for an A-10, "the tanks natural enemy".** ''Black Ops'' has ''two'' in the mission "The Defector", one by a gatling-armed Huey chopper that clears the path for your squad and the other by a flight of F4 Phantoms covering your escape.** There is also a Gunship Rescue in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty2''. Dog Company has to hold Hill 400 against an overwhelming amount of German infantry, supported by tanks and half-tracks. After doing this for several minutes, a flight of P-51 Mustangs will finally come to the Rangers' rescue, forcing the German troops to break off their attack.** Also used in ''World at War'' in the mission "Black Cats". The titular "Black Cat" is a PBY Catalina flying boat that's landed on the water to pick up survivors of a sunken destroyer. Your character is trying to keep attacking Zeroes off the plane while it tries to get airborne, but the gun turrets are scripted to run out of ammunition as one final wave of enemy planes is inbound. At the last possible second, a squadron of Navy Corsairs show up and clear a path for your escape.*** An example of a Gunship Rescue for the Gunship Rescue. You had just arrived on the scene as the fleet was being attacked by the Japanese, doing your best to fend off the Zeroes and the Japanese torpedo boats while you did your rescue work.* The ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' 2010 reboot has one in the form of 2 Apache helicopters coming to the rescue of Army Rangers who have been ambushed at the foot of a mountain. Particularly poignant as the ''four'' Army Rangers (well, three Rangers and one Air Support Tech) had already spent minutes and most of their ammo waiting for reinforcement, only to call off their own troops, as their support would only arrive in time to walk into another ambush after the squad was killed. The four resign themselves to their fate as their ammo quite literally runs out and their cover is completely blown away… and ''then'' the gunships show up.* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has quite a few, a notable one being near the end, where the Navy shows up with a formerly mothballed battleship to save Snake from the super-submarine Outer Heaven.** ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' also ended with one, as Snake and Holly escape from Zanzibarland.** ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Ground Zeroes]]'' features this as a ''gameplay mechanic'' with the extraction helicopter, which can be called in for an emergency extraction if neccessary. [=Subverted=] in that calling it into a high-danger zone runs the risk of it being [[RealityEnsues shot out of the sky.]]*** One Mission even revolves around it, having Snake provide air support from the chopper while an Intel Operative [[spoiler: modeled after and voiced by ''[[CreatorCameo Hideo Kojima himself]]]]'' makes his way to the landing zone.* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', in the DLC Broken Steel: After you set the Enclave mobile base to self-destruct, your guys show up in a captured Enclave VTOL.** Enclave Vertibirds in general employ the villainous version of this trope, coming out of nowhere and laying down all sorts of suppression fire on everything in sight. Amplified by the fact that, for the most part, nobody but the Enclave has functional cars let alone military gunships.* This can happen in the final battle of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' twice. If you help the [[MadBomber Boomers]] get their B-29 bomber, they'll use it against whatever faction you're fighting. If you manage to get the help of the Enclave Remnants, they'll show up via a Vertibird.* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', once you join up with the Brotherhood of Steel, you can summon a Vertibird gunship with the Signal Grenades.* The TCS ''Mount St Helens'', in ''[[VideoGame/WingCommander Wing Commander IV]]'', steps up to bat for this trope, [[BigDamnHeroes jumping in from Sol System with Captain Eisen in command]], to engage its sister ship, the ''Vesuvius'', just as the ''Vesuvius'' was about to blow the player's carrier to [[Literature/HonorHarrington dustbunnies]]. However, as the ''Mount St Helens'' wasn't completed before Eisen hijacked it, things didn't go quite as well as hoped, though they did still delay the ''Vesuvius'' long enough for Blair to slip in ahead of [[WellIntentionedExtremist Admiral Tolwyn]], for the final showdown.* ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' has many of these. In one instance you and Juni [[spoiler: are cornered by ''half the Liberty Navy'' as wanted criminals, and you're outgunned so badly it's not even funny. Just when things are at their bleakest, Captain Marcus Walker charges to the rescue in his cruiser, blowing away a ''battleship'' with its WaveMotionGun, buying you and Juni precious time to escape.]]* Averted throughout the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series, where the gunship belongs to [[BigBad General Morden]].* Happens some in ''VideoGame/FreeSpace''. One mission has an enemy ship about to open fire on a station you are protecting (an enemy ship too powerful for your fighters to handle), when all of a sudden, the very-aptly-named ''Colossus'' warps in and blasts the crap out of it.* Subverted at the end of ''[[VideoGame/RainbowSix Ranbow Six: Vegas 2]]''. The player, Bishop, orders his team to stand down while he goes to face off against the BigBad. He's in a white shirt carrying a handgun, and you're fully armed and armored... this'll be an opportunity to PayEvilUntoEvil. And then his own Gunship Rescue shows up, and you have to distract it for a while until your allies can shoot it down.* In ''[[VideoGame/GhostRecon Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter]]'', Captain Mitchell (the player) is given the chance to direct gunships at armored targets at various point in the game. However, there is a deliberate invocation of the trope in the infamous Plaza del Angel mission: after the US Embassy has been blown up by insurgents, the Ghost squad must protect the dignitaries --and the "football"-- from a sheer ''onslaught'' of enemy forces. These start as endless on-foot infantry... then a couple of jeeps... then an [=APV=]... Then you see a ''tank'' just a few blocks away, and all of a sudden the ruins of the embassy are demolished by cannon fire... Then you hear the roar of helicopter blades and the tank ''disintegrates'' as a US gunship descends from ''[[TheCavalry freaking nowhere]]'', giving Mitchell and his squad the chance to evacuate on a Blackhawk, providing a glorious finish to [[NintendoHard the most intense firefight]] in the entire game.* ''VideoGame/JetsNGuns'' does this once with the USS ''[[UnfortunateNames Impotence]]'': Just as the player ship is about to be overwhelmed by enemy forces, it arrives and [[BeamSpam detonates five ion torpedoes]] ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill that completely clear the entire screen of everything]]'' ([[FriendlyFireproof save the player]]). Even the music changes to reflect this.* In the ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' turn based attack games one of the attacks you can choose is calling in a bomb drop.* Mission 3 from ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar: Winter Assault''. Your Imperial Guard force is holding the line against the biggest Ork WAAAGH! you've probably ever seen for 10 minutes. As the timer counts down, a Squiggoth charges your lines and proceeds to dominate your pitiful force. Countdown ends: cue Baneblade tank, a rolling engine of destruction that saves your ass and easily devastates the Squiggoth and remaining Orks single handedly.* ''[[VideoGame/CrisisCore Cirisis Core: Final Fantasy VII]]'' has the Air Strike LimitBreak invoked by lining up Tseng's image in the DMW slots. He flies in on a helicopter, shoots up your enemies, then launches some rockets/missiles. Unfortunately, it doesn't ignore enemy Vitality.* ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'' has some missions where the enemy calls in a chopper to take Tony down.* In ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'', in the Michigan reservoir level, on your way to tag the second generator for the EMP an enemy helicopter shows up to give Sam trouble. [[spoiler: Fortunately, Vic's chopper shows up after you tag the second generator and blows the enemy heli away.]]* Happens in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony'' [[spoiler: during the final mission. Luis is on a motorcycle being chased by assassins when Yusuf shows up in a ''gold plated helicoptor'' and blows up the assassin's vans.]]* In ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'', the heavy attack helicopters. Their only purpose in the game is dishing out DeathFromAbove to everything that moves and has wrong colors on it, meaning that in any given multiplayer match, the Heavy Air players will end up pulling off Gunship Rescues repeatedly. Is it any surprise that the SeparateButIdentical heavy chopper models of the Soviets and the U.S. are Mi-24 Hind and AH-64 Apache? The Tactical Aids can be this, if applied correctly, particularly the Heavy Air Support.** In the singleplayer campaign, [[spoiler: when your battalion is heavily outnumbered during the Battle of Pine Valley, critically-low on ammunition and with Colonel Sawyer ordering [[LastStand a retreat to the beach]], the [[CoolBoat USS Missouri]] arrives and rains death on the Soviets]].* In ''[[VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany Battlefield: Bad Company 2]]'' the main characters are about to be executed by an improvised firing squad in a cutscene, and just as the command to fire is about to be given Flynn the pacifist pilot flies over the cliff edge in an armed Blackhawk and unleashes hell on the bad guys. Accompanied by a few [[PreMortemOneLiner appropriate words]], of course. Also happens in one of the multiplayer trailers, where american soldiers are pursued by russians in a hectic [[ChaseScene vehicle chase]], they run into a cliff and are seemingly cut off from escape until a Blackhawk comes from below, turning to face its mounted minigun towards the pursuers. [[GatlingGood Braaammm!]]* Somewhat subverted in ''{{VideoGame/Battlefield3}}'' expansion ''Armored Kill'' : There are Gunships, they can rain down instant death, but the fact that it's slow moving, hard to spot the people down on the ground, and require trajectory calculation just make the Gunship a huge target.* A ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' staple, with the catch that the "guns" are also your party. You're given a small group of units and told to take out around ten enemies. Once those are out, a horde appears, possibly with a boss... at which point your ship also appears and you get to deploy the forces you've already collected.** This is particular awesome when your ''Space Noah''-class battleship appears on the field and fires its [[WaveMotionGun Tronium Cannon]] at the enemies with extremely fitting [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZlfw8qH-M music playing]].** Of special note is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtPKtD-mrRg Trombe's interrupt]] from Original Generations 2, referencing an AscendedMeme from the first Original Generations, the [[BackgroundMusicOverride Trombe Override]].* At one point in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' the squad prepares to make their LastStand and to [[TakingYouWithMe Take Them With Us]]. And then the Acclamator assault ship ''Arrestor'' drops from Hyperspace to save the day. It's a SubvertedTrope, however; the ''Arrestor'' is out-gunned by the Trade Federation battleship and you need to get the ''Prosecutor's'' weapons back online to support it or else it will be destroyed.** This seems to happen at least once per campaign. On Geonosis, a gunship blasts a hole in the side of a ship that's about to self destruct, allowing the player and his squad to escape. Later on Kashyyyk, a gunship shows up just after numerous [[MookMaker Mook Makers]] are dropped virtually on top of the squad.* Happens a lot in ''VideoGame/OperationFlashpoint'' and ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}}'' missions, due to the inherent power of helicopter gunships against tanks and infantry. In a rare example of this being used against the good guys, the climax of one mission in the Resistance expansion has your guerrilla group abandon the armored vehicles you captured in the previous mission and flee into the woods when you come under attack by Soviet Mi-24 attack helicopters.* You are the Gunship Rescue several times throughout the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series. The fourth installment's Operation Bunker Shot plays this twice in the same mission. The first is you doing this for the amphibious assault forces; the second was the Eruseans attempting this at the end of the mission with their flight of A-10s showing up.* You can subvert this in ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]''. If you case enough chaos (read: blow up a military base single-handedly) the enemy will send in helicopters as their Gunship Rescue. This would work really well, since they are armed with minguns and occasionally rocket launchers, if only you didn't have your [[GrapplingHookPistol grappling hook,]] as this allows you to hijack the helicopeter and wreak even more destruction (read: blow up two more bases, then jump out and jack another helicopter on the way down).* Whether you choose the "Deal" or "Revenge" path in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', the final battle leads to a pretty much unwinnable chase. It's either Niko in boat vs. badguy on helicopter, or Niko on dirt bike vs. badguy in boat. Until Little Jacob swoops down in an aptly-named Annihilator helicopter to give you a lift and provide supporting fire.* Arguably, any RTS where you can call in an air attack to bail out your ground forces can count. ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'''s Strafing Runs from Airborne Company P-47s have been known to turn the tide of many a game. In the expansion pack, the Panzer Elite can request Henschel close air support aircraft for a similar purpose. The Soviets in the ''Eastern Front'' fan-made expansion take it UpToEleven in typical Russian style by calling in an entire squadron of Il-2 Sturmoviks. Nothing says "Gunship Rescue" like watching Panther and Tiger tanks disintegrate under a storm of [[MacrossMissileMassacre aerial rockets.]]* Happens in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilterTheOmegaStrain'' after [[HoldTheLine holding the line]] at Taherir Palace. In this case, you have to physically jump to the helicopter, if you miss, you fall to your death and fail the mission.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]* The climax of ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'', though it was fairly obviously coming. In a bit of a twist, however, the gunship fleet only guarantees everyone's physical safety, and the main character still risks his life to SaveTheVillain (or rather, the villain's sanity).* In the "Dead Dogs" arc of ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'', the team and [[TalkingAnimal Sweetheart's]] pack are facing off against a horde of werewolves. Sweetheart is in the middle of her RousingSpeech when [[BlackHelicopter Nick]], who'd been left behind at the pack's base, shows up with massive reinforcements.* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' troops from the company on the ground have on occasion been rescued by close air support provided by their home ship, as shown [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-03-10 here]] and [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-01-15 here]], for two examples.-->'''Maxim #4:''' ''[[DeathFromAbove Close Air Support]] covereth a multitude of sins.''** Followed immediately by,-->'''Maxim #5:''' ''[[SplashDamage Close Air Support and Friendly Fire should be easier to tell apart.]]''* Early on in ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'', Walter steers his heavily armed airship around in an attempt to do this for [[LivingMacGuffin Sal]]. Unfortunately, his [[GlassCannon airship is wooden]] and [[TheDragon Izor]] has a squad of [[KamehameHadoken mages]] with him, forcing Walter to retreat and think of a better plan.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* Hilariously played with in Machinima/RedVsBlue--> "I would say that was the cavalry, but I've never seen a line of horses crash into the battlefield from outer space before"* In Chapter 36 of WereAlive, The Colony looks to be on the brink of collapse under the assault of the [[ArtificialZombie "Little Ones"]] when Michael and crew arrive in the Pelican an proceed to mow down zombies with an [[GatlingGood M134.]] * Subverted in season 8 of ''WebVideo/AcquisitionsIncorporated'': With the party trapped inside Dragonspear Castle by two large green dragons, TheIntern Viari brings back help in form of the Acquisitions Inc. [[CoolAirship Battle Balloon]], equipped with all kinds of dragon-killing weaponry and crewed by six gnome automatons. However, Viari decides to dramatically leap off onto one of the dragons' back, while the gnomes prove too dumb to operate said weaponry, so the Balloon just floats idly above the castle, while the party somehow manages to slay the dragons and their cohorts on their own. [[spoiler:The airship's weaponry comes in helluva handy a bit later, though, when the party accidentally flies into a massive aerial battle between two dragon factions.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' played it straight in the first season, when Lugnut and Blitzwing were trying to reach the Ark. Ratchet had reactivated the war ship weapons system and the two Decepticons found themselves facing one hell of a WaveMotionGun in the face. In the end of Season 2, Sari and Ratchet go to get reinforcements... which consists of reactivating the ship they came to Earth on and [[spoiler:turning it into Omega Supreme. Also a plain old BigDamnHeroes since, hey, he's both a HumongousMecha and a battleship.]]** Ultra Magnus rescues Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Miko from Predaking with his space cruiser during the third season of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' had a dramatic reversal [[spoiler:with the airships the Fire Nation had built, premiering]] in the pivotal "Day Of Black Sun."** Also a more traditional one with the use of a War Balloons in the episode "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheNorthernAirTemple The Northern Air Temple]]" to protect those living at the Temple. Especially when [[spoiler:the Fire Nation thinks ''they're'' the ones being reinforced, thanks to the insignia on the balloon. They aren't.]]* The beginning of Season 3 ("Volume 2") of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' has a custom-painted gunship save some Jedi from General Grievous just in the nick of time, in a move almost as cool as Grievous hunting them down in the first place. In the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' episode [[spoiler: "Landing at Point Rain", the clone troopers under Obi-Wan Kenobi are falling back and an injured Obi-Wan lights his saber for their LastStand... and a squadron of Y-Wings arrive to take out the incoming droids and bugs. One of the few crowning moments given to the Y-Wing bomber.]]* A handful of times in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers''. "New Frontier" where Kidd's ship swoops in and takes out some of the Crown fighters (granted, it was just to get their captain back from the Rangers' custody). In "Renegade Rangers" the Laredo shows up to blast at the battle cruiser the RoguesGallery stole. Subverted in "Changeling" where the Rangers have to convince the gunship ''not'' to open fire on a penal colony asteroid, and inverted in "Armada" where Shane and Niko fly in with a tiny interceptor and broadcast to the gunships how to destroy the Crown Armada.* Villainous example in ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', when Phaeton ([[spoiler:actually, his clone]]) arrives to the besieged Venus with a single ship--a gigantic dreadnought ''Olympus Mons II'', temporarily changing the tide of battle in favor of Neosapiens. Too bad it's blown up by the next episode.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]

* During the American Civil War, at the Battle of Hampton, ironclad warships were relatively new. On the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the Confederacy revealed their shiny new metal behemoth, the CSS ''Virginia'' (a rebuilt captured steam frigate, the former USS ''Merrimack''), which almost single handedly mopped the floor with two of the wooden ships that the Union Navy was using. On the second day of the battle, the ''Virginia'' came back to the fight to finish off the third Union ship, the USS ''Minnesota''. However, the Union had brought in their own ironclad, the USS ''Monitor'', into a defensive position in front of the ''Minnesota''. Thus began the very first battle between metal warships.* Also during the American Civil War, at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, the final Confederate assault on Union lines was repulsed with the help of naval artillery fire from the wooden gunboats ''Lexington'' and '' Tyler'', steaming on the nearby Tennessee River. Small, shallow draft gunboats were used throughout the war, especially during the Mississippi River campaign, so this trope is bound to crop up quite a few times.** One major advantage that the river gunboats had was that they could easily transport guns that were significantly heavier and more powerful than land-based units could, which meant that the gunboats were often able to engage enemy artillery positions from a safe distance. Later in the war, ''ironclad'' gunboats became more and more common, meaning they could safely engage land-based units even if they ''weren't'' outside the enemy guns' range.* At the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Battle of Normandy]], American troops who were pinned down at Omaha Beach received some respite in the form of American and Royal Navy destroyers, sailing dangerously close to the beach (several times nearly running aground in the shallows) to engage the shore defenses directly with their 5 inch gun batteries. By the end of the battle, the Navy had lost three Destroyers, a Destroyer Escort, and a troop ship to the enemy defenses in order to help the Army get ashore and inland.* Reports are that the Libyan rebels in the 2011 civil war, being forced to retreat under fire from government forces, regarded the sudden arrival of [[UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades French air support]] as this. To make it even more dramatic, one commander even said that he had thought that the UN resolution authorizing force had been forgotten and that they really had been abandoned.* Close air support duty tends to lead to this. Guess what most modern aircraft designated as "gunships" are designed for.* The USAF AC-130 gunship. It's a converted transport plane equiped with [[{{BFG}} an artillery gun,]] [[MoreDakka autocannon and two]] [[GatlingGood vulcan cannons]].* Among the A-10 Thunderbolt II's jobs is to provide this for downed pilots and the helicopters sent to pick them up. * As mentioned about for ''Film/ActOfValor'', the whole point of SWCC boats is to be this when the [=SEALs=] need hot extract, bristling with guns on every corner.* One real incident was during the 1983 US invasion of Grenada when a unit of SEAL troopers tried to extract the US ambassador, but found themselves surrounded by enemy troops. Cut off from their support, and their communications out, the US troops desperately make a commercial phone call to their base in North Carolina. Once the callers were confirmed as US troops in peril, the base connected them to the theatre operations-headquarters and the commanders diverted an AC-130 gunship to provide air support for the troopers. * In the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Battle of Bulge, things were looking bleak for the Allied troops trying to hold off Nazi Germany's counterattack until the weather cleared midway into the battle, and then the Allied air forces could start striking back from the air.* Something similar happened earlier that year at the Battle of Arracourt. The Germans attacked during bad weather, but in at least one instance, the very moment the storm clouds parted, Allied attack aircraft [[DeathFromAbove swooped down]] and attacked the Germans.[[/folder]]----